Patent rights are legal protections granted to inventors for their inventions. These rights allow the inventor to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention without permission for a limited time, usually 20 years from the filing date. This encourages innovation by ensuring that inventors can benefit financially from their creations. To obtain a patent, the inventor must publicly disclose the details of the invention, which must be novel, non-obvious, and useful. Once granted, patent rights can be enforced in court, allowing inventors to take legal action against those who infringe on their patent rights.